Kidney Cancer

on April 18th I was seen in the ER because I had lower right abdominal pain and then blood in my urine, after a cat scan I was told I had a 8.7 cm mass on my left kidney and it was probably cancer, april 19th, urologist tells me he is sure of it being cancer but it has to be removed anyway so it dosent matter at this point whether or not it is cancer, ok so I understand...May 2nd I enter the hospital for surgery and it is removed that afternoon...may 6th Im told I can go home so I came home last night but Iam having anxiety about this thing...incision is 15-18 inches long and Im all swollen up and having pangs and such and just thinking Im going to die...my follow up will be on may 10th at 10 am, is there anything I should be prepared for?

I'm surprised they sent you home the same day they did the surgery! What did the doctor say? A friend of mine had kidney cancer and she told me when it was removed the doctor said it was "encapsulated", which means it was contained within something similar to a capsule and it hadn't spread. She had the kidney removed, and that took care of the problem. She is happy and healthy years later......I'm praying you have the same good result.

I was in the hospital 4 days..doctor has said he believes he got it all...Im praying for good news on friday as well, thank you...but man what an incision he made and had to remove part of the rib itself just so he could get it out the hole..I think he rode me like a horse while i was out! I love your answer to me thank you so much..

Last edited by JIM829; 05-08-2013 at 01:54 AM.
Reason: wanted to thank again..

I re-read your post and noticed my mistake....you didn't have surgery and get out the same day....duh....my bad.....
I'm glad you can keep your sense of humor, but it probably hurts to laugh, huh? Good luck on your follow up appt. Are they sending a nurse out to check your incision?

Update: been about six weeks since the surgery and had to re-enter the hospital for 3 days due to the incision seeping at this late date, they put me on IV antibiotics ....doctor says I'm fine and scheduled a follow up in 3 weeks to check it again...its whatever he can get out in a minute or so, thats all the time he spends with me, Im really tired of this kind of healthcare and will be finding me a different doctor, Im glad he's only the surgeon. Plans are to go to Cancer Treatment Centers Of America over in Zion, Ill on sunday for a week for evaluation, if no more cancer is found then its back to life as I know it, If they find some then its a whole new ball game...wish me luck

Jim I'm wishing you all the luck in the world.......
Glad the surgery is behind you! Sorry you're dealing with some complications, but you're over the tough part, I think!
Continue to think positive!
Keep us posted on the Cancer Treatment Center, how you like it, what you think of it, etc